Chapter 1
For the first week after unlocking his Trait, Kim Sae-Jin lived in isolation like a mental patient.
It was totally understandable as, for 23 out of 24 hours in a day, he suddenly had to exist as a Monster.
The bosses at his part time jobs sent him various messages and phone calls, but they all entered in one ear and left through the other without really registering in his brain.
Two of them showed concern, but the other one threw verbal abuse like there’s no tomorrow. But then again, it was understandable where they were coming from.
The only thing Sae-Jin couldn’t get a grip on, was the absurdity of his current situation.
And after another week passed by, the small, meticulously-kept room which he took great pride in, became a messy cesspool of untidiness.
It was par for the course, really. The effing claws on his paws would leave behind unsightly scars all over the place no matter how softly and gently he walked around.
Like this, where a living couldn’t really be called a living anymore, another 4 days went by.
Only then, did Sae-Jin finally come to accept his predicament.
A body length of around 2m, a shoulder height of around 1.2m, a tail length of around 50cm, a body weight definitely exceeding 90kg. And a coat of brown fur.
At a glance, they might sound like the specs of a still-growing tiger, but unfortunately, those numbers belonged to him.
Sae-Jin was actually a Brown Wolf now.
A Monster that was considered as the weakest prey there was, always targeted by those conceited idiots who proudly label themselves as the "Knights", "Mercenaries" or "Hunters."
Also, too ambiguous to be called a true, bona fide Monster - striding the imperceptible boundary between a beast and that of a full-fledged Monster, it was not easy to categorise this creature.
On top of being the newbies’ preferred choice of hunting material, a wolf was usually massacred on sight without mercy because of the following traits:
1, There were plentiful of them like a mob,
2, They were slightly troublesome for regular citizens to deal with.
That was Sae-Jin’s form, currently.
He found it difficult to accept this initially for obvious reasons. And after finally coming to terms with it, he then realised that wasn’t the end of his troubles, no. Now, he had to madly formulate plans to "safely live." His desires to continue breathing was a lot stronger than he expected. At least there was the cushion of $3500 in his bank account, which he was definitely thankful for.
Sae-Jin quickly decided to maximise his Human Form during the precious 1 hour window.
For his food, Sae-Jin bought easy-to-prepare TV dinners from a convenience store 5 minutes away and always ate them while in his Human Form. His pride as a human being wouldn’t have it any other way. And he made sure to leave himself a 30-minute breathing space in case of an unforeseen emergency.
Then he practiced controlling the strength of the Brown Wolf Form in order to perfectly mimic the creature. After 4 days of concerted effort, he even figured out how to retract his sharp claws.
Meanwhile, whenever there was a chance, he changed into a Goblin Form and began cleaning the mess in his home. A 140cm-tall Goblin might have a small stature but it possessed a surprisingly supple pair of hands for a kind of jobs that demanded precise craftsmanship, which was perfect for taking care of the household chores.
Those ugly claw marks remained here and there, but before long, Sae-Jin’s room reg
ained its former spotless, clean appearance.